Elizabeth Drakes's Site

Fantasy Romance

Books

Kindle App: 8 Pros and 3 Cons

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You may have noticed a lot of book reviews lately, with more to come.

This is because:

  1. I love to read
  2. Thinking about a book and trying to figure out what I liked, didn’t like, and what I thought could have been done better helps sharpen my skills for my own stories
  3. It’s a great distraction from actually getting any writing done

I downloaded the Kindle App as there were several books that had been recommended to me that I couldn’t get in paperback. After having used it for over a month, here are the top reasons I like and dislike the app.

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Pros

  1. It’s a lot easier to read from than I thought it would be. The app is well done and all the books are very easy to read.
  2. No more god-awful covers giving away my less-than-highbrow reading choices. You may have noticed, I read a lot of romance novels.
  3. I can read regardless of the ambient lighting. Sitting with DD1 while she goes to sleep? No problem. Hanging out while DH is playing video games with the lights dimmed? Did that the other night.
  4. Book storage. I have shelves of books in the basement. I keep a couple of authors handy who I find write certain things very well and will reread chapters to help my own writing. The Kindle App condenses my collection to the size of my iPad.
  5. Book Disposal. I not longer have to figure out what to do with an awful paperback book. Donate it? Give it to an enemy? With the Kindle App, I just move it to the Yuck pile.
  6. Selection. There are a lot more books available for the Kindle than in paperback.
  7. Speed. I find a book I want to read, and I have it in less than 30 seconds.
  8. Super easy to read on the elliptical machine or treadmill.

 

Cons

  1. Places it can’t go. I like to read at the beach, and before children, I would relax with a book in a bubble bath. Can’t do that safely with an iPad.
  2. Selection. I have read some god-awful books lately. Every one of them was on the Kindle App. At least when I buy my books from Barnes & Noble, there has been some vetting process.
  3. You have to make sure you plug your iPad in more often if you’re using it more often

Book Review: Deliver Me from Darkness by Tes Hilaire (Book 1 of Paladin Warriors)

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Book: Deliver Me From Darkness

Author: Tes Hilaire

Rating: 1/5 Stars

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I preface this review with the fact I read the name of the series Paladin Warriors, and was *squee* Paladins! I love knights and dragons, swords and sorcery. Bring it on!!

I read a bit further to see that the author’s take on Paladins was angels from The One God that had chosen to come to earth to fight Lucifer’s minions. *double squee*

Oh wait, the hero is a vampire. Still a Paladin, but somehow a vampire was able to turn a holy being. Hmmm, probably a bit of story there, hopefully a good story . . . Still hoping for the Paladin parts to be really good even if they’re not as powerful as I would’ve thought.

IF you are a huge fan of vampire romance, this might be your cup of tea. If you are looking for Holy Paladins, Guardians of the Light, and Knights in Shining armor, this story isn’t for you.

Pros

  1. Steamy scenes were pretty good.
  2. The background characters were amazing. I *loved* Logan, I liked Vallin by the end, and Alexander was also cool. Gabby was wonderful, and Christos easy to hate.

Cons

  1. Flashback scenes were jarring and didn’t actually help with the story. As a matter of fact, they were a tad confusing.
  2. The Paladins are NOT *Paladins* They are rapists. To force yourself on someone, to forcibly “mark” them against their will, a mark that will bare their thoughts and feelings as well?!? Really? And every one of them was ready to forcibly mark Karissa because she was the last female paladin? Really? Maybe their order deserves to go extinct. Not sure what separates them from the Darkness. Why would the Light even allow this forcible marking? Shouldn’t the Light demand consent or smite the Paladin doing the marking?
  3. By the way, why were there no other female Paladins? Low birth rate, but why a low birth rate? And how did the ones that birthed the rapey paladins all manage to die? Book never does a great job explaining it. From some of the flashback scenes, seems like all the women were together for some reason and the forces of darkness pounced. I hope to hell that wasn’t the reason. Those ladies should’ve lit the forces of darkness up and taught them what it means to mess with a celestial being. But, you know, there were no big strong men around to protect them. *gag*
  4. The plot was weak. It appeared to be: everyone wants Karissa. Whether to forcibly subject her, as per the Paladins, or for her blood, as per Lucifer and gang. No idea why Lucifer wants her blood, and he gets it, so he wins.Not really the ending I was expecting in a Romance novel. Yeah, the hero and heroine also survive, but I don’t expect the bad guys to get what they want.
  5. I didn’t like the heroine from the beginning and never came around to liking her. Might be the temper tantrums. Might be everyone saying how powerful she is and then her constantly being a damsel in distress. She doesn’t do much of anything to save herself other than run away. Which, yeah, can be viable strategy, but then get the heck away! Quick synopsis of her story:
    • Captured and brought to Roland.
    • Sorta willingly taken to Haven with all the rapey Paladins, but then goes unconscious because of reasons and is imprisoned in a bedroom. I rolled my eyes when she simply walks out of Haven (who was guarding their most precious victim?). In the middle of the night. And doesn’t notice it’s still night until the door closes behind her. Right.
    • Good thing there’s a rapey Paladin that catches her and who’s about to force himself on her but has to stop so he can save her from a couple vampires and demons.
    • Good thing the vampire Paladin gets there in time to save her from the other Paladin . . . ‘Cause, you know, she’s so powerful . . .
    • The fact that later in the story she leaves the cabin when her vampire Paladin can’t, after she was told not to . . . Are you surprised she’d abducted (again)?
    • She’s taken to the coal mines where she’s drained of blood and tortured . . . in a romance novel . . .
  6. Serious damsel in distress. And I have no idea why she’s considered so powerful, or why an author has torture in a Romance novel. All I can come up with was that the author desperately wanted her to be vampire by the end rather than Rolland being redeemed to the Light and returning as a full Paladin (which is the Happily Ever After ending I was expecting a la the Circle Trilogy from Nora Roberts – great trilogy, by the way.).
  7. Karissa has no real growth or development, either. In the last scene, she is being all squeamish over helping dissolve the remains of a really bad guy and ewww, she can’t touch it. Even though there are Paladins (granted rapey ones) fighting all round her, risking their lives, to save her.

 

I opened the book wanting to love the Paladins, ready to love them, in fact. I came to hate them (except for Logan). The vampire ended up being the best of the lot (surprise twist, Logan ends up being Karissa’s brother, so no super nice guy for her!), and I kept hoping for there to be something that redeems the vampire Paladin and brings him to the light. Yeah, no.

He is still a vampire at the end, and now, so is she. No happily ever after for me. Looks like the end of the line for the Paladins as she was the last female one of them and now she’s undead. Not sure that’s entirely bad, given their propensity to not require consent.

Not a book I remotely recommend, but if you do read it, don’t get too caught up in the Paladin Warriors title.

Trilogies

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Presumptuous of me to post this, I know. I have nothing published much less ever having ever been offered a contract for a trilogy, but I can still hate trilogies.

And I do.

Much to my chagrin as a pre-teen, there was a book I loved, but at the ending, the author hadn’t wrapped everything up. Up until then, I had read books like Nancy Drew where is a series, but each book was a complete story. This left the story unfinished.

I noticed then it was the first book of a trilogy. I went to the library to get the next book in the series, only to learn it wasn’t written yet. Much less the third book. I was angry, frustrated, and sad.

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Will she die? What does it mean to her to literally trade hearts with someone? What about the Witch? Tune in next year to find out! 

The author didn’t finish the series until I was long over it. Still rankles, though, even now. I remember the excitement of finally getting to see what happened after begging my mom to take me to the library and finally getting her to agree. And then the devastation at learning there was no ending to read. I never did go back and finish the trilogy.

After that, I always checked to see if a book was part of trilogy. And if it was, I wouldn’t read any of them until all three were written and in my hands. This is true even now. I’m the reader, dammit, I don’t want to wait a year or more for the next installment. I don’t want to be left hanging not knowing what’s going to happen to characters I’m invested in enough that I am willing to buy a second book to see what happens to them.

Fortunately, I have not witnessed this trilogy phenomenon in the same format in romance novels. The handful of trilogies I’ve read usually involve three different female leads and three different male leads. Each book is self-contained with the romance between one set of characters being resolved. There may be an overarching plot that ties them all together, but this is secondary to the romance.

I still wait until I have all three to read any of them.

I have also seen a book “series” where all the stories are set in the same world, and you may see characters you’ve met before, but again, each book is self-contained. Kind of like my Nancy Drew books, but without the single protagonist tying them together.

Not sure where this trilogy business came from. I’ve heard it started with Lord of the Rings from JRR Tolkien. He never intended it as a trilogy, but it was too long to publish as a single novel. Guess they hadn’t seen Stephen King’s The Stand yet.

I’m sure there’s a business reason for it. Maybe it makes sure people buy all three books. But only if the publishers are patient enough to wait for the release of the third book as I know I am not alone on this. I’ve also wondered why they don’t release all three at the same time. Give the reader what they want and get us to buy three books as soon as we know we love the first one. Then I don’t have to remember I love it in a year when the next installment comes out.